Thanks for the offer, Andy, but I'll pass for now. I do have a character sitting on the paid servers from the trial version, but I'm only on the private server since that's where my friends play. I'll probably end up quitting before they all do though, haha.

Completed another run through Suikoden II. It's a game that definitely makes an impact every damn time. It's a shame it never got the same attention in its time that its contemporaries did, although one could probably blame that on Konami's lack of push behind it. I can recall back in 1999 the hype behind everything that Square released just from the constant barrage of coverage in gaming magazines and websites. I even remember a fair bit of hype around games like Arc the Lad, Lunar Story, Quest 64 (which was just awful, but because it was the one game remotely close to being an RPG on the N64, it got a ton of press), Wild Arms, Tales of Destiny and Legend of Legaia, but if a friend of mine didn't have a copy of the first Suikoden, I would have likely never known the series existed. It's not to say that Konami didn't have their own hype train, but outside of their top franchises, like Metal Gear and Silent Hill, or their lame attempt at competing with EA Sports' franchises, they didn't put any effort into pushing their own library. In fact, my favourite games from that generation of consoles that Konami made, are two series' that it felt like Konami themselves couldn't be bothered to remember even existed: Suikoden and Mystical Ninja Goemon.

Where are Konami now? They did one last (amazing) entry of Metal Gear and were focusing on mobile games and Pachinko machines in Japan. Their side franchises were forgotten one after the other and their main event franchises weren't enough to keep them afloat alone. Their contemporaries from that time, even the companies like Sega, who dropped their console line and became a third-party developer, are mostly still around. Rockstar Games, Ubisoft, EA, Square, Capcom, Blizzard and Bethesda are all still going. Sure, THQ, Midway and Acclaim crashed and burned, but if you had to pick three console game developers around that time that wouldn't make it, THQ, Midway and Acclaim would be the likely suspects. All three of those companies are gone because they all had the same problem: Most of their games were terrible. Yeah, each one had a few hits, like THQ's line of N64 wrestling games (WCW World Tour, Revenge, WWF WrestleMania 2000 and No Mercy), Mortal Kombat (Acclaim and Midway) and Killer Instinct (Midway), but for every one of those few hits, they were punching out failures like the Rugrats games (THQ) and the WWF and ECW games made with Acclaim's barely functional wrestling engine.

And you know what? Those shit-heaps got more coverage than Konami's incredible second-tier games.

That's where Konami failed. They were making incredible, quality video games and here's the thing with quality: It takes time and a good number of qualified people. These were not cheap, quick games to make and produce, these are exhaustive efforts from all contributors. If the marketing team had put as much effort into promoting games like Suikoden as companies like Acclaim put into the Turok games, then perhaps Konami could have had a whole library of money-maker franchises rather than a small handful that dragged the rest of the company from one quarter to the next.

That's not even getting into the PS2/XBox/GCN era.

I digress, though. Suikoden remains a hidden gem of a series and Suikoden II is the shining beacon amid the sea of RPG games.

As of April 1st, 2016,the first entry in my Gold & Steel fantasy series, As Fierce as Steel, is on sale. Visit www.thegoldandsteelsaga.com for more!

I've banged on this drum elsewhere over the past two years, but if you haven't played Shovel Knight, I highly highly recommend it. The game is an homage to classic NES games, but not beholden to them. For example, it may use colors that only appeared in the NES palatte, but they don't restrict themselves to the same color limit per screen. The same goes for the sound. It creates this game that's both nostalgic and new.

Additionally, the game has received two free expansions that are entirely new campaigns for 2 of the villain characters. There is a third on the way I believe.

I've played bits of the expansions recently. They induced as much nerd rage as the original did. Hoping to finish both new campaigns one day. Fantastic game.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Debating whether I give Xenogears a replay or attempt to get through Suikoden III again. It was practically a non-start the first time around, but I blame it on having just completed Suikoden II for the first time. It's hard for any game to live up to that standard.

As of April 1st, 2016,the first entry in my Gold & Steel fantasy series, As Fierce as Steel, is on sale. Visit www.thegoldandsteelsaga.com for more!

Ubisoft has revealed that a new Assassin's Creed game, Far Cry 5 and The Crew 2 are coming within the next year.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

I'm simultaneously playing Paper Mario (N64) and Paper Mario Color Splash (Wii U). It's an interesting experience so far. Only a couple of hours into each, but it's going to be interesting to see how they diverge as I go.

Life is Strange is getting a sequel and Destiny is coming to PC. Destiny will be available on Battle.net which is the launcher/hub for World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Diablo 3, Overwatch and more. For any PC gamers, this is gigantic, extraordinary news.

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Injustice 2. Excellent sequel and follow up to Injustice: Gods Among Us. I think I may do a more detailed review either on her or on my blog, but I highly recommend it, especially for you DC heads out there!

"My favourite spot is the one where I would pick him up for an aeroplane spin and rotate as many times as possible. He’d be so dizzy that he would try to pin the referee, and I’d count to three and he’d think that he won - Daniel Bryan

Going to attempt Suikoden 3 again. Haven't been down this road in a long while. Last time I could barely make it a few hours into it. My save file shows as much, but I'll be damned if I can remember even that bit of the story. So, the plan is to start new with my last Suiko 2 save file loaded for the Suiko 2 characters that go forward to Suiko 3. (One of the neat features of the first three Suiko games)

As of April 1st, 2016,the first entry in my Gold & Steel fantasy series, As Fierce as Steel, is on sale. Visit www.thegoldandsteelsaga.com for more!